Best credit monitoring services in 2023
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Miglė Vosyliūtė
Writer
Credit fraud is one of the most common types of identity theft. Keeping an eye on your existing and future credit accounts should be your priority. To avoid overlooking suspicious activity in your credit accounts, you should use a reliable credit monitoring service.
Robust credit monitoring services, such as IDShield, help keep your finances safe throughout the day. They monitor several different credit accounts, alert you about any questionable activity in almost real-time, monitor reports from several bureaus, and more.
Considering the importance of protecting your finances, it’s essential to pick a reputable service to monitor your credit accounts. Hence, we have reviewed and selected the top 5 best credit monitoring services in 2023. Read below and find the most suitable for you!
Top 5 best credit monitoring apps
- IDShield – the best credit monitoring service overall
- Aura antivirus – excellent and feature-rich credit protection service
- Norton 360 – credit monitoring service with robust identity theft protection
- Bitdefender – user-friendly credit monitoring app
- TotalAV – decent app for monitoring financial information
The best credit monitoring services - our detailed list
To help you find a reliable credit monitoring service, we have tested 10 apps and selected the best services in terms of provided functionality, price, customer support, and more. Let’s find them out:
1. IDShield – the best credit monitoring service in 2023
| Max simultaneous connections: | 12 |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | Yes |
| Platforms: | Android and iOS apps |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get IDShield, starting at $14.95/month! 🔥 |
IDShield is one of the best credit monitoring services available now. Not only will this service protect your financial information, but you’ll also get a VPN and an antivirus included in one subscription.
With IDShield you get continuous credit monitoring from three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can get your credit score sent to you monthly and an updated detailed report annually.
More so, you’ll get credit threat alerts in real-time, including credit freeze and fraud alert assistance notifications. So, you’ll be informed if any accounts are opened under your name or suspicious financial activities.
In addition, to protect your financial information, IDShield provides payday loan monitoring, hard credit inquiry alerts, high-risk financial application monitoring, and other protection features.
Furthermore, IDShield is not only a great tool for protecting your credit, but also has lots of features to monitor your ID data for any leaks or threats. You also get to protect the minors in your family from having their data stolen, and a licensed private investigator and insurance in case identity theft occurs.
IDShield subscription costs only $14.95/month and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. In addition, you’ll also get Trend Micro Maximum Security antivirus software wit a VPN proxy and password manager.
Check out our full review of IDShield
- Credit monitoring from 3 different bureaus
- Credit score tracker
- Insurance up to $1 million
- Identity theft protection
- Trend Micro antivirus suite
- Base in the US, a privacy-unfriendly jurisdiction
- Apps only for mobile devices
2. Aura antivirus – excellent and feature-rich credit protection service
| Max simultaneous connections: | 10 devices |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | Yes |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Android |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get up to 42% OFF Aura Antivirus! 🔥 |
Aura antivirus offers the best credit monitoring services today. It’s an all-in-one solution that protects you from all sorts of online threats, such as malware or leaked data, and also helps you to monitor your finances at all times.
Aura’s financial fraud and credit protection ensures you receive notifications about suspicious activity in your credit accounts. It offers near-real-time notifications to avoid overlooked threats. Meaning, if anyone tries to take a loan or opens a new bank account under your name, you will be notified immediately.
It also alerts you about every new inquiry on your credit files across three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). With it, you won’t need to worry about manually requesting a report from your credit bureau. Plus, you can track your credit progress with the Aura credit score tracker and review annual credit reports.
Since Aura’s credit monitoring service comes in a bundle, you also receive quite a list of other security features. There’s a VPN for staying anonymous online, a password manager to avoid breached accounts, and identity theft protection to prevent financial losses, ID theft, and more. Not to mention the antivirus system that protects you from malware and other viruses.
Here, you can choose from 3 different types of subscriptions. An individual one, for couples, and also for families. The pricing starts at $10.00/year.
- Credit monitoring from 3 different bureaus
- Credit score tracker
- $1 million insurance coverage
- Antivirus protection
- Call support
- Pricey
- Doesn’t work on Chrome
3. Norton 360 – ID theft protection with credit monitoring service
| Max simultaneous connections: | 10 devices |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | Yes |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get up to 83% OFF Norton Antivirus 🔥 |
Norton 360 is one of the best antivirus programs today that also offers robust credit monitoring service. Features included in Norton’s ID theft protection suite give you comprehensive security coverage in one place.
Norton tracks credit reports from up to three major credit bureaus. This way, you can spot suspicious activity on time, follow your financial situation, and more. Speaking of suspicious activity, you also receive alerts regarding any key changes in your credit accounts or reports from one or all three bureaus.
Identity theft protection also includes features like Identity lock, which allows you to lock your TransUnion credit file. This ensures that a criminal won’t open a new bank account, take a loan, or purchase goodies under your name. You also get up to $1 million in insurance in case of ID theft.
Let’s not forget that Norton 360 is versatile antivirus software as well. By choosing any of its plans, you receive advanced malware, ransomware, and virus protection features. There’s also a Norton VPN, and a password manager included.
The starting price of a plan with a credit monitoring service included is from $9.99 for the first year. Truth be told, the price gets bigger within each tier. Nevertheless, the amount of security features you get makes it worth it.
Learn more about the features in our Norton 360 Antivirus review.
- Three-bureau credit report monitoring
- Identity lock
- Credit alerts
- 24/7 helpline
- Feature-rich suite of security
- Expensive
- You’re being prompted to open additional tabs and apps
4. Bitdefender – beginner-friendly credit monitoring service
| Max simultaneous connections: | 5 devices |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | Yes |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get Bitdefender for up to 62% OFF! 🔥 |
Bitdefender is another security provider that includes credit monitoring services in its suite. With its user-friendly app, you can effortlessly stay tuned with your credit accounts and financial situation wherever you go.
With this provider, you can track your credit reports from all three major credit bureaus. Whenever fraudulent attempts happen in your credit accounts, you get nearly instantly informed about them.
There’s also a monthly credit score tracker to avoid any financial mistakes or overlooking criminal activity. Plus, you can use a credit score simulator and learn how different financial situations influence your credit balance. In case you become a victim, there’s insurance ranging from $1 million to $2 million, depending on the subscription plan you have.
Furthermore, Bitdefender’s ID theft protection offers services like Lost wallet protection that allows you to block or freeze your credit accounts quickly. Identity threat alerts inform you about data breaches.
All in all, Bitdefender offers nearly everything you might need to secure your finances. You can get its standard digital identity protection plan for $23.99/ year with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Get to know the service better from our Bitdefender review.
- Credit score simulator
- Credit reports monitoring from three major bureaus
- Credit score tracker
- 24/7 customer support
- Feature-reach suite of identity theft protection features
- No credit lock
- Quite expensive
5. TotalAV – reliable service for monitoring credit accounts
| Max simultaneous connections: | 10 devices |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | No |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get TotalAV, now 84% OFF! 🔥 |
TotalAV is a good option to calm your concerns about your credit accounts. Along with top-tier antivirus features, this provider offers robust identity protection services.
TotalAV offers 24/7 monitoring for essential information related to your identity. It can be your credit cards or bank accounts, social service number, and more. Whenever alarming activity regarding your sensitive information is detected, you will instantly get notified.
This provider also claims to help you recover and restore any losses caused by identity theft. There’s even a $1,000,000 insurance policy guarantee in case you fall to be a victim.
Sadly, TotalAV is quite limited regarding credit monitoring. It doesn’t help you monitor credit reports from bureaus nor provide you with monthly credit scores. Therefore, it’s quite difficult to stay fully up-to-date with your credit accounts.
Despite not working directly with credit monitoring bureaus, TotalAV still offers a solid list of features to keep your finances safe. Plus, there is more to be happy about. After all, TotalAV is one of the best antivirus programs on the market, so you will get advanced ransomware, phishing, and other threats protection.
Putting it all together, TotalAV isn’t as loaded with features as some other providers, but it can cover the most elemental needs to secure your finances. Plus, it’s also one of the cheapest options available, with a starting price of $19.00/year.
Check our TotalAV Antivirus review and find out more.
- 24/7 identity monitoring
- Financial insurance
- Alerts
- Good price
- No credit report monitoring from credit bureaus
- No monthly credit scores
- No credit lock feature
6. McAfee Total Protection – versatile identity protection
| Max simultaneous connections: | 10 devices |
| Triple-bureau credit report monitoring: | Yes |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Current deal: | 🔥 Get McAfee, save up to 67% 🔥 |
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution, then McAfee is exactly what you need. It has multiple identity protection features along with a credit monitoring service. Likewise, a solid list of additional security features to stay immune against all cyber attacks.
With McAfee Ultimate, you can monitor credit reports from three different credit bureaus without additional hassle. In the app, it’s also possible to follow your monthly credit scores, so you can effortlessly stay on top of your financial state. By using credit lock, you stop the unauthorized opening of bank accounts under your name.
Unfortunately, there are no direct alerts regarding your credits. Yet, there’s still an identity monitoring feature. It allows you to add up to 60 types of personal information on the dark web that will be monitored and alerted about when there’s a threat. In the worst-case scenario, you can get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage.
After all, identity protection isn’t all you get from McAfee. You also get market-leading antivirus, a firewall for securing your home network, a password manager, and more.
The most basic McAfee plan that includes a credit monitoring service costs $39.99 annually. However, if you wish to have a full set of features, the price increases more than twice.
Get to know the service in-depth in our McAfee Antivirus review.
- Credit lock
- Monthly credit scores
- Triple-bureau credit report monitoring
- Identity monitoring
- No credit monitoring alerts
- Expensive
- Performance could be improved
Testing methodology
To determine whether the credit monitoring service is suitable to ensure the best credit account protection, it’s important to learn if it includes a few main characteristics.
First off, it’s crucial that the service would notify you regarding doubtful activity as soon as possible. Every single moment counts when it comes to financial fraud. That’s why we have looked for those providers that offer close to real-time security alerts.
The number of monitored credit bureaus was also a factor that we paid attention to. A triple-bureau monitoring ensures quick and easy access to your credit reports. Hence, we made sure your credit monitoring service helps you to see your credit reports fast, whether you’ve detected suspicious activity in your credit account or simply want to get a loan.
Commonly, credit monitoring service comes as a part of ID theft protection. Consequently, it’s important that the provider includes extra protection features, such as identity restoration, stolen funds reimbursement, and more.
Comparison of the best credit monitoring services
To ease your journey of choosing the best credit monitoring service, we have compared each provider in terms of rating, features, price, and more.
| IDShield | Aura antivirus | Norton 360 | Bitdefender | McAfee | TotalAV | |
| Rating | ||||||
| Price | from $14.95/month | from $10.00/year | from $9.99/year | from $23.99/year | from $39.99/year | from $19.00/year |
| Features |
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| Device coverage | 12 devices | 10 devices | 10 devices | 5 devices | 10 devices | 10 devices |
| Customer support | Live chat, email, phone line, FAQs | Help center, email support, call support | Guides, FAQs, live chat, phone | FAQs, guides, phone, email, live chat | Guides, FAQs, live chat | Phone, email, ticket |
What is credit monitoring?
Credit monitoring is a virtual service that monitors a person’s credit report for signs of suspicious financial activity. It protects you from both – credit fraud and identity theft.
If your credit account is used without your permission, you lose your credit card, or your data gets leaked, a credit monitoring service sends you near-real-time alerts regarding threatening activity.
Moreover, top services that offer credit monitoring services, such as IDShield, offer three-bureau credit monitoring. Hence, you get a convenient way to check your credit reports whenever needed without additional hassle.
Overall, a credit monitoring service is a great way to track whether there have been any unknown changes in your credit account. This way, you can protect your finances soon enough to avoid identity theft and big financial losses.
How credit monitoring works
Initially, consumers use credit monitoring services to avoid identity theft. However, these services also track credit reports (detailed credit history) and credit scores (consumer’s creditworthiness).
Robust credit monitoring services inform users of any doubtful activity regarding their credit accounts. It can be an added account member or a deleted one, an unknown loan under the account’s owner's name, large purchases, and more.
Even though credit monitoring doesn’t directly protect you from phishing, baiting, catfishing, and other threats, it allows you to detect dangerous changes sooner than later. As minutes matter regarding financial fraud and identity theft, being notified close to real-time is crucial.
How to pick the best credit monitoring service
To know how to pick a credit monitoring service, you need to know why exactly you need it in the first place. Perhaps you have already been threatened, or you simply know how bad the situation is regarding financial frauds. Withal, it’s important to raise these questions to learn which credit monitoring service is the best:
- Does the service actually offer three-bureau credit monitoring? Without keeping track of triple-bureau, it’s easy to miss out on a suspicious credential activity, debts, and other errors that might only appear on one of the bureaus.
- Does the credit monitoring service alert you close to real-time? Cybercriminals tend to move fast; hence, every second counts if there’s a threat to your finances. That’s why it’s a must for a credit monitoring service to offer near-real-time security alerts.
- Is a larger spectrum of identity theft protection included? One of the most common financial fraud outcomes is identity theft. So, it’s important to ensure wide-scale protection for your ID. Look for a provider with additional ID theft protection features, such as dark web monitoring, personal data cleanup, and more.
- Is customer support available 24/7? There’s no fixed time when financial fraud happens, and there’s no time to stomp in one place. That’s why help should always be available. Whether it’s call, chat, or email support.
What is the need for credit monitoring?
If there’s been a thought that you can do without a credit monitoring service, let us remind you in what ways it becomes beneficial:
- 24/7 credit monitoring. To get rid of a constant hassle, getting a credit monitoring service is a smart move. It constantly tracks changes in your credit accounts or bureaus. Whether it’s an added or removed account member, a new loan, or a large purchase.
- Close to real-time security alerts. Whenever a change happens in any of your credit accounts, credit monitoring services alert you as soon as possible. Catching criminal activity on time can save you lots of money, nerves, and your identity.
- Financial insurance. Most security companies that have credit monitoring services included offer financial insurance. The coverage can be up to $1,000,000 and apply to cases when your ID is stolen, you’re threatened with ransomware, your funds are stolen, and other situations.
- Additional features. Some services offer additional credit monitoring tools. These can include a monthly credit scores tracker, a credit lock system, investment accounts monitoring, and more.
Is there any free credit monitoring service?
Yes, there are free credit monitoring services. However, this depends on your needs and expectations. After all, free services tend to offer more limited opportunities.
One of the examples is Credit Karma. It monitors credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion, yet it doesn’t include Experian, the most important of all bureaus, as it provides the most thorough credit information. Moreover, free credit monitoring services monitor fewer credit accounts, so you can’t stay up to date with all your existing credit cards. Finally, paid credit monitoring services are more likely to give you close to real-time safety alerts, while free services might react slower.
Overall, if you have already gone through financial fraud or have severe concerns about your financial security, only a premium credit monitoring service can efficiently benefit you. With robust providers like IDShield, you can add several credit accounts to your profile. Additional features include credit score tracking, investment accounts monitoring, identity theft protection, and more. What’s more, IDShield also offers a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is credit monitoring worth it?
Some argue about whether a credit monitoring service is worth it. After all, everything depends on the circumstances. Your country of residence, financial and social situation, past experiences – everything falls to be a motive for getting a credit monitoring service. Yet, even if you feel safe and sound about your financial security, an additional security layer is always a good idea.
You can effortlessly keep track of your credit accounts with reputable providers, such as IDShield. It provides alerts regarding changes in your credit accounts and monitors credit reports from all major credit bureaus. It also offers all-around protection against other cyber threats, like ID theft, malware, and other viruses.
We hope this article has helped you to choose the best credit monitoring service and answer all the burning questions!
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FAQ
What is the best credit monitoring service?
IDShield offers the best credit monitoring service. It helps you track monthly credit scores, protects your credit files from being stolen, and more. In addition, there’s also strong identity theft protection features available, and even insurance in case you fall victim to the ID theft crime.
Why should I monitor my credit score?
The number of financial frauds has been increasing over the past few years, so tracking your credit score can help prevent getting tricked. Moreover, it’s an excellent tool for tracing your financial situation and planning your credits according to it.
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